Ohio Focus of the Week: Ohio’s Infant Mortality Rate Falls, but Black Babies Still Face Higher Risk
Ohio has recorded progress in reducing infant deaths, but a significant racial gap remains. The state’s 2024 infant mortality rate fell to 6.6 deaths per 1,000 live births, with 841 infants dying before their first birthday. However, the rate among non-Hispanic Black infants was 12.6 per 1,000, compared with 5.1 among non-Hispanic White infants. This means Black infants were about 2.5 times more likely to die before age one.
Prematurity Remains a Major Concern
The disparity is particularly evident in deaths linked to premature birth. Prematurity-related conditions remain Ohio’s leading cause of infant death, while Black infants experience substantially higher mortality from these causes than White infants. In 2024, 67 per cent of infant deaths occurred within the first 27 days of life, highlighting the importance of maternal health, pregnancy care, safe delivery and quality neonatal services.
Access to prenatal care also remains an issue. Ohio reported that 41 per cent of pregnancies that ended in an infant death in 2024 had not received care during the first trimester. However, health policy research indicates that the disparity cannot be explained by healthcare access alone. Housing conditions, poverty, food insecurity, social circumstances and other community-level factors can also affect pregnancy and infant outcomes.
Ohio Expands Community-Based Support
The state is responding with targeted programmes in communities experiencing the greatest disparities. Ohio’s Maternal and Infant Vitality Initiative focuses on 10 counties that accounted for 88 per cent of the state’s non-Hispanic Black infant deaths in 2023. The initiative uses community-based approaches, including neighbourhood navigators, to connect pregnant women with healthcare and social services.
Ohio has also expanded Medicaid coverage for doula services, beginning in October 2024. During 2025, more than 450 pregnant women received doula-supported services, with Black women accounting for 62.9 per cent of those served. The state is also supporting programmes such as Queens Village, Cribs for Kids and community-based maternal health initiatives.
Yet recent figures show why the issue remains urgent. In Hamilton County, the Black infant mortality rate rose to 21.0 per 1,000 live births in 2025, despite years of local intervention.
Ohio’s declining overall rate therefore tells only part of the story. The continuing racial gap suggests that reducing infant mortality will require not only more healthcare access, but sustained investment in the social and community conditions affecting Black mothers and babies.
